The Thorn Amongst the Roses
by jodiewrites
Summary: A tale of an unlikely romance between Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy.  Rated T because of swearing, but nothing else. PS I promise the story's better than the summary.
1. Chapter 1

Scorpius and Rose FanFic: Chapter 1

Had you been in the Hogwarts library one particular spring afternoon, you would have seen a red-headed girl sat at an unusual desk than spanned across one entire wall so up to ten or fifteen people could use it at once. The red-headed girl was sat on the bench that accompanied this strange desk, in the spot closest to the window. Little diamonds in an array of colours graced the many papers that were in front of the girl, along with the usual colours of the welcome sunlight. She was nearly fifteen, and in her fourth year at this legendary school. The young girl, like many others that chose to stay in the library on a Saturday morning, was very intelligent, and was often told so by her teachers. She did not take her education for granted like many of her classmates did, and her time was mostly divided between being in lessons and preparing for them. On this occasion, she was preparing for Potions class. It wasn't the girl's favourite subject, but tried hard in it nonetheless. The teacher of Potions class, Professor Flint, had known the girl's mother and would often tell her how similar they were to the point that it was annoying.

"Miss Weasley, you really are your mother's daughter." he'd say.

Rose would never know how to respond to such an observation. This was one of the flaws of burying yourself in books: when you were forced to surface, talking to any-one other than close family or trusted friends was difficult. The usual response was, "I get that a lot.". But on days in which Rose was less tolerant, an answer along the lines of "I know." was all that could be expected.

At the moment, Professor Flint was one of Rose's least favourite teachers because he had tied her hands into disobeying her father's only wish, "Just stay away from the purebloods, particularly the Malfoys.". Because of her professor's rushed decisions, Rose would have to go against both of her dad's wishes. The class was assigned a project to study on a potion of their choice, which would have been no trouble for Rose, if Flint hadn't instructed them to do it in the pairs he had selected. As luck would have it, Flint had chosen Scorpius Malfoy to complete the assignment with Rose Weasley.

"Fantastic." she spat, not even realising she had said it until the Slytherin boy next to her dug his elbow into Rose's side, laughing.

So now, Rose Weasley was researching Polyjuice Potion, mostly because in the unlikely case that she was stuck, her mother was sure to know plenty about this particular potion, having brewed it several times in her stay at Hogwarts. She had come up with a plan; to do exactly half of the project, then greet Malfoy with several pieces of parchment with the instruction to do the rest himself. she would have as little interaction with Malfoy as possible, and hopefully achieve a reasonable mark for it.

"Should have known you'd be in here," came a voice disturbingly close to Rose. She turned around sharply, and found him sitting beside her, and Rose wondered if she needed to look up some spells on spacial awareness. Scorpius Malfoy was so similar in looks to his father; grey eyes, white blond hair and pale skin (Rose had seen a picture of him once in a very old glass cabinet of achievements), but according to what Rose's father had told her about Draco, he seemed to be a lot less eager to fulfil the typical Slytherin qualities.

"Were you looking for me?" she asked, sounding more insulted than curious.

"Well, yes. We need to do that potions project. But it looks like you've already made a start," he said, gesturing towards the pile of books.

Rose sat up straighter, not knowing how to reply. "Yes. But I was thinking that, to make sure we each complete a fair amount of work, we will each do one half of the project each."

"What, separately?"

"Yes. Separately. I'll complete questions one to seven, and you can complete questions eight to fourteen. To be perfectly honest, you get the lighter load of work, so don't go complaining."

"But we're marked on co-operation! I know you can't stand to get a lower mark than you could have, so I guess you're stuck with me." he smirked.

What annoyed Rose even more than that arrogant smirk was that he was telling the truth. To get a low mark could lead to a fail in the entire module, and then her mother would be so disappointed, and she might be punished by her and the school, and her average could be dropped! This was a disaster!

"So, Polyjuice Potion is it?" asked Scorpius, already taking the most illustrated book and studying it.

Rose bit her lip, torn between achieving good grades and obeying orders. Scorpius looked up at her and held her gaze for some time.

"Um, yeah, Polyjuice. Best book's this one," she stuttered, slamming the thickest book within reach down in front of him.

He laughed. "Of course, the one that takes two years to read is the best,"

Rose laughed too, but nervously. "That's my style." she admitted.

Scorpius began reading, his grey eyes flickering across the pages at tremendous speed.

"You read awfully quickly. You do know you have to absorb all of this?"

He looked up, giving Rose a quick glare, before reciting every he had read, word for word. Scorpius reminded her that she wasn't the only nerd in the school.

"You're not a nerd! And are you implying that I'm a nerd, too?"

"I don't think you'd deny it, though, would you?" he asked. Once again, he proved he knew Rose better than she thought. Scorpius returned to his book, still reading impossibly fast. Well, he had a photographic memory and seemed to have no qualms about working with a half-blood. Perhaps this project wouldn't be as torturous as Rose had first anticipated.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The dawn of a bright spring day woke Rose from her light sleep, and eager to keep researching the Polyjuice project, she was jogging down the grand stone staircases within minutes of rising. She often woke up earlier than most students, except for days when she had got carried away with homework and she found herself alone in the Common Room at one o'clock in the morning. However, Hugo had made sure that these occurrences were less frequent. He wasn't too keen on the idea of being associated with the girl who spent her life with her head in a book.

To her surprise, Scorpius was in the great hall before Rose, letting a slice of toast go cold as he continued to write on a sheet of parchment. "I'm surprised to see you here. Were you always an early-riser?" she asked him as she took a seat on the Slytherin table. This earned her a few disapproving looks from Scorpius' house mates but nothing more. She doubted there was any punishment for sitting at the wrong table, but she had never known any-one do it before.

"Depends," Scorpius replied, looking up only briefly. "I couldn't sleep, so I've been down here some time... It's not a regular thing but, I'm down here early occasionally..." He was obviously more interested in his writing than the conversation at the minute, so that's the way the conversation turned.

"Don't tell me this is the Polyjuice project." she laughed.

"Well it is..." he scrawled the last few words down. "Does it meet the expectations of the school's brightest witch?"

_That's an improvement, _thought Rose, _'school's brightest witch' instead of 'nerd'. _She took the piece of parchment, and read the essay.

"Wow," she said, once she had finished. "That's brilliant! Much more than I expected."

"Did you not know that I care about my grades?" asked Scorpius.

"Well, I knew you cared, but I didn't know you were this clever!"

"Actually, it's..." Scorpius turned over the opened book before him. "Oswald Woodhouse that is 'this clever'. I just interpreted what he said."

Rose shook her head in disbelief. "I thought Slytherins were supposed to be desperate to prove their worth instead of being so modest!"

Scorpius shrugged. "But I don't think I'm your typical Slytherin. I think the Sorting Hat thought more about 'Malfoy' than anything else."

"What do you mean by that? Do you think you belong in another house?" asked Rose, curious about the turn the conversation was taking.

Scorpius scanned the room, looking at the small huddles of people coming down for breakfast sat at their designated tables. There was a long pause before he said "I think I'm hard to place."

Rose took this as the best way to end the discussion on houses. After judging the state of the abandoned, stone cold toast, Scorpius decided to ditch breakfast and go for a walk around the grounds instead.

"I'll come with you, if you want," Rose offered. "I've got nothing better to be doing. Only, some History of Magic homework or something..."

"No thanks," said Scorpius. He saw the disheartened look on her face before quickly adding "The goblin wars are quite heavy going. Lots of details to put in. It's, you know, kind of time-consuming."

"Oh, well, ok then. I'll see you later, maybe." said Rose, trying hard to sound neutral but failing.

The blond boy stood before the red-headed girl for a moment, but struggling for something to say, he turned out of the hall without another word.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_I_ _haven't lied. Well, not entirely. I'll call it withholding the truth. _This was just a fraction of the internal struggle Scorpius Malfoy had with himself as he walked over the grounds of Hogwarts, like he had told Rose he was doing, but just on the way to the Owlery. All he could do was hope that Rose didn't want to send a letter. Lying definitely wasn't the best way to introduce himself. But this letter was important, and concerning Rose. Not that she knew this, of course. Scorpius had written and rewritten this letter on numerous occasions, all but the one that was hidden in his cloak had ended up in the fireplace in the Slytherin common room. To his delight, no-one was in the owlery, just a variety of owls gently hooting for another letter to post. A regal-looking eagle owl was the one that had the honour of flying back to Scorpius' home, Malfoy Manor. Before tying the letter to the owl's outstretched leg, Scorpius quickly scanned the letter one more time, making sure it was definitely the best way to phrase it. In a rather unrefined hand, Scorpius read his dispatch.

_Dear Dad,_

_I'm not sure how well you'll take this, so I hope you're sitting down. I don't know if you remember the Weasleys, but Ron and Hermione have a daughter called Rose and we were assigned a potions project that we had to complete together. The project's fine, and Rose is really lovely. And I was just wondering if I had your permission to get to know her better. You know, properly. She'd be a great_ _friend, but she's half-blood. I know how purebloods are supposed to hate non-purebloods but, I don't know. Just, write back soon, ok?_

_Scorpius_

He scowled at the letter for a very long time, judging every word. He definitely wasn't a wordsmith, but with no other solution and a very impatient-looking eagle owl waiting beside him, he removed the piece of rope he had brought with him and hastily tied the letter around the owl's scrawny leg.

"Go on, shoo." he said. The owl didn't move. "Malfoy Manor." he added, and the owl gave him another glare and flew just inches above his head as it fled the Owlery.

**A/N Just a quick chapter. Please review and what-not:)**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_Rose Weasley. Who could possibly be more perfect than Rose Weasley? _These words echoed around Scorpius' head as he lost focus in Potions class. The assignment was due today, and Professor Flint seemed happy enough with their work. At least, he did so far. All he had done was take it from Rose. She sat two benches in front of Scorpius, luckily enough she too sat three seats in from the left. She was braiding her hair into a loose plait, her fingers dancing through her hair in rhythms that Scorpius could never truly comprehend. In the end, the plait fell just above her tiny waist, and she leant forward on the desk, apparently deeply interested in... what does that say... why Shrinking Solutions should only be used in extreme situations. Scorpius decided Rose was more interesting. A few strands of hair were already coming loose, and she twirled them around in her hands, tucking them behind her ear and repeating the process as it fell on her porcelain cheeks. She turned briefly towards the window, her brown eyes scanning the horizon. Her attention was once again with Professor Flint. Shame. Scorpius would rather see her face than the back of her head.

_No. Snap out of it. _He ordered himself. _What if dad is out there, at this very moment, writing out a furious reply to my letter, demanding that I should never speak to Rose again? Right. Let's find out why Shrinking Solutions should only be used in extreme situations. _"Yes, Rose." said the professor.

"Sliced caterpillars are a cheap but dangerous ingredient. If the wrong species of caterpillar is used, the results of the solution would be disastrous, if not a hazard to health."

"Yes, ten points to Gryffindor for the detail," Scorpius saw Rose divert her gaze to the wooden desks, a slight proud smile lighting up her face. "Yes, the Shrinking Solution is an unexpectedly difficult draught to brew." Flint continued, but once again Scorpius had lost interest. He thoughts had wandered to how to approach Rose now that he had no Potions project to use as an excuse. Stupid Sorting Hat, forcing him away from a casual approach in the common room or Great Hall. Perhaps he should talk to her immediately after class, but then they'd both be late for last class. Even if one late mark wasn't a problem, it would be obvious something odd was going on when both of the usually punctual students turned up behind schedule. Well, the days were getting longer, maybe if it was still light after dinner he could go for a walk with her. That was the best conclusion Scorpius had.

"Scorpius!"

"Hmm - what?"

"What was the last thing I said?"

"Urm, that caterpillars are dangerous if used incorrectly?"

"Mr Malfoy, that was five minutes ago." The potions master informed him.

"Oh... Sorry."

"You will be if Shrinking Solutions come up in your test next week, I hope you know that much."

"Yes, Professor."

"Right, moving on-"

Well, at least this lesson was fruitful in one sense: he finally figured out how to talk to Rose.

Fortunately for Scorpius, the sky was still a pale blue when the majority of Hogwarts' students came down for dinner. The food was, as always, delicious, but Scorpius had other things on his mind. He occasionally pushed some potato around his plate while he watched Rose anxiously. He didn't want to miss her departure or else it would be another 24 hours until he'd get this opportunity again. She sat laughing with some of her family, although that was pretty much inevitable for two reasons: firstly, she was part of the Weasley family tree and the likelihood of her coming across one of her cousins was only increased by the second reason, she was at Gryffindor's table. At times, Scorpius would kill to go back to his first year and beg the Sorting Hat to put him into Gryffindor. At last, Rose pushed her plate towards the centre of the table and headed for the doors. Without a moment's thought, Scorpius did the same and met her at the top of the stone steps.

"Oh, hello, Scorpius." she said, smiling.

"Hi, urm, I was just going to go for another walk and I was wondering if you'd join me?"

Rose looked up the stairs for a second as they entered the main entrance. "Yeah, sure." she agreed.

They took off at a leisurely pace out of the over-sized front doors and began to circle the school. The pair reached the corner of the castle without saying a word, although the silence wasn't uncomfortable. They had only ventured a few feet into the west side of the grounds when Rose took Scorpius' hand. He looked at their entwined fingers. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said, tucking her hand back into the pocket of her robes, her pale cheeks quickly flushing crimson.

"No, it's alright, I wasn't being awkward or anything," he said, stretching his hand out by his side.

Rose smiled, reassured, and held Scorpius' hand again. "It's quite beautiful isn't it?" she contemplated. "You know, the grounds when the sun's setting."

Scorpius hadn't even noticed that the clouds were now stained a candy-floss pink. "Yes." he agreed. "Very pretty."

Rose stopped and turned to face Scorpius. "Shall we stay here for a minute?" she proposed.

"Yeah, if you like."

She led him, with his hand still trapped in her's, to sit with their backs against the castle. They were side by side, their hands still interlinked. After a few seconds, Rose put her head on Scorpius' shoulder. He stroked her auburn hair, which was now rid of its plait falling down her back, with his free hand. There they stayed for an immeasurable amount of time, both completely relaxed with not a care in the world. Only a tinge of pink was visible in the sky when Rose next spoke. "Do you know what, Scorpius?"

"What?" he asked.

"I think I love you."

It was only then Scorpius realised the gravity of what he was doing. Not only had he appeared to get himself his first girlfriend, she was a half-blood and he was dating her (wasn't he?) without his father's consent. It took only a moment for Scorpius to decide which emotion was the over-riding one, the one he should act on.

"I love you too."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

He had told Rose only days ago that some nights he couldn't sleep at all. Tonight was one of those nights. A few hours ago, Scorpius and Rose had made known their love for each other, and he was awake at a ridiculous hour in the morning pondering what had actually happened. And, more importantly, what will happen. Had Rose already told every Gryffindor about the two of them? There should be no reason why she hadn't, he hadn't told her not to. But somehow, he couldn't imagine that happening, probably because of how she waited until they were out of sight from the main doors before she dared to hold his hand. But nothing could stop that nagging voice inside his head, _she might have told every-one. _He'd just have to concentrate on the 'might'. But even if Rose had told some-one, what was the problem? If they were to go forward, then they couldn't hide it forever. Scorpius continued to fester on the topic for who knows how long, but was taken aback by a loud beeping. It took him several seconds to realise it was an alarm clock. Only then did he realise that he hadn't slept a wink the entire night.

A yawn came from above him, shortly followed by a pair of bare feet dangling at Scorpius' side. "Morning, Scorpius," said Daniel Clark, fellow Slytherin. Scorpius had never got on very well with Daniel. He seemed very secretive, very wary of what was going on, as if when you had a conversation with him he would judge every word. Scorpius found it rather disturbing, and chose to have as little interaction as possible with Daniel without coming across as rude.

"Morning." he replied, quickly picking up his robes and darting into the bathroom to change before any-one else could take it, or else he'd be forced to host a conversation with Daniel.

Minutes later, Scorpius was nearly running up to breakfast from the dungeons. As usual, most of the students were still getting ready, so only a handful were eating breakfast. He so desperately wanted to sit at Gryffindor's table like Rose had sat at Slytherin's, but there were only a few people then and hundreds were bound to come downstairs any minute now. Scorpius begrudgingly sat at the Slytherin table, eating alone. This wasn't unusual, especially at breakfast. It seemed to be a Slytherin thing to be grumpy at any time before nine o'clock, so conversation would be slow even with he had some-one to put up with him for a while. Scorpius wasn't unpopular as such, it seemed he just had a mutual relationship with every-one. Well, most people. Students were flooding the Great Hall by now. In the current, Scorpius caught a glimpse of Rose. It only took a second's look to see that she probably had very little sleep too. She smiled half-heartedly, then redirected he glance to the floor. No-one seemed to notice their look, which indicated that Rose hadn't told any-one. If any-one had known, they would act like vultures, studying every single encounter like it was all that kept them alive. But there were no vultures.

The rest of breakfast was uneventful, as was expected, so with a good half an hour to spare before he was due at Transfiguration, Scorpius visited the Owlery. On his way there, a familiar looking owl came swooping towards him. It came within feet of his face before it had even moderated its speed, and it wasn't until the bird was at by his feet that Scorpius recognised the owl as the one he had sent to Malfoy Manor two days previously. It had a scroll attached to its leg, addressed to Scorpius Malfoy. It was instantly recognisable as his father's sophisticated handwriting. Scorpius immediately felt his heart rate increase. He knew what the subject of the letter was, but he was petrified of his father's verdict. He slowly unravelled the letter that read:

_Dear Scorpius,_

_I'm glad you have found a girl you like. Proud, in fact. Excuse me if I have interpreted your letter in the completely wrong way, but if you want her to be your girlfriend, go for it. It took me years to summon the courage to ask your mother out, but you can see how doing so can affect your life so dramatically for the better. So, sooner rather than later, you don't want her getting another guy. Good luck!_

_Dad_

Scorpius was so incredibly relieved. Although he doubted that she'd get 'another guy' after the previous evening, he was so happy that his father was on board. He smiled at the letter so that his teeth were showing, but the regal owl only gave him a disapproving look before digging his talons into the toes of his shoes and flying back to the Owlery.

"What are you smiling at?"

The letter was almost instinctively crumpled in Scorpius' hand and shoved into his pocket before he spun around the face his companion. Rose was walking up behind him, arms folded and her lips forming a bemused smile.

"Oh, urm, nothing really. Just, you know, a letter." He stuttered.

"Right," she smiled, now by Scorpius' side.

"I take it you didn't tell any-one? About yesterday?" asked Scorpius.

"No," replied Rose. "Did you?"

"Not a word."

"So, when are you planning on telling every-one?" she asked.

"Telling every-one what, exactly?"

"That we're a couple. We are a couple, aren't we?" she said, suddenly very conscious that Scorpius might not have meant what he said to her by the castle.

"Yeah, I guess, if you want to be." _Smooth. _He thought.

"Of course I want to be," she smiled, taking his hand.

"So, what's the plan about publicity? Shout it from the rooftops? Let people find out? Hang a sign around our necks saying 'I'm with boyfriend'?"

"I like the sign idea," he smirked.

Rose smiled too. "But come on, seriously, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know, I think this is more of an issue in girl world or Gryffindor world or whatever world you're in because I'm not fussed about how people find out."

"Ok, so, shall we just go about our business and let people ask?"

"Like I said, this is a Rose world issue. I'm not fussed."

"Ok. We'll do that then." she said conclusively, as if she'd just closed a huge deal. She looked up into Scorpius' grey eyes, and took his other hand. "So it's official."

"Official," he confirmed, staring back into her big brown eyes. He'd never noticed the slight dusting of freckles across her nose, or quite how long her eyelashes were.

She stood on her tiptoes, reaching up to his cheek and kissed him. She set herself back on to her feet and smiled. She was about the walk away when Scorpius dragged her ponytail across her shoulder. His voice was barely a whisper when he spoke. "I've never felt like this about any-one else before. I love you, Rose."

"I love you too. With all my heart." she whispered back. Scorpius bowed his head and kissed her full on the lips. They both could have stayed there for an eternity. Eventually, Rose pulled back from her first kiss, Scorpius from his. Rose smiled broadly and started giggling. She ran her fingers through his white-blond hair, and rested her chin on his shoulder. She waited a moment, then whispered in his ear, "We're going to be late for class."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The Easter holidays came earlier than usual in Scorpius and Rose's fourth year. Both of them had decided to go home for the week, and were now riding on the Hogwarts Express. Fewer people bothered to go home in the shorter holidays, so the young lovers managed to get a compartment to themselves. Right now, the train was somewhere around the Scottish border, and the view was fairly plain: just miles of fields coming back into life. Pretty, but quite mundane after several hours. The train needed to stay off the beaten track in case of Muggle detection.

Scorpius and Rose were sat next to each other on the way to King's Cross, despite the fact they'd have more room if they sat opposite each other. Rose sat with her head resting on Scorpius' shoulder, with his head resting on top of her's. They didn't speak very often, both comforted by the soft murmur of the train's engine, but when they did it was in soft whispers.

"Will we be able to meet up?" asked Rose.

"No, I'm going to Norway, remember?"

"All week?"

"All week."

The train made the only noise for a few seconds.

"I'll miss you so much." whispered Rose.

"I'll miss you more," he smiled.

"Want a bet?" she joked. "You will write to me, won't you?"

"Every day." Scorpius confirmed. "I'll send a different kind of owl with every letter. The first might be a tiny thing I might find deep in the thickest part of an unexplored forest, the next more closely resembling an albatross."

"An albatross?" questioned Rose.

"It means it's big." he smirked.

"Oh." Rose smiled. "Can you send me a wild owl? One I can keep?"

"I promise."

Rose smiled, and soothed by the rhythmic strokes of her hair, she fell into a dreamless sleep. Eventually, the train reached Platform nine and three-quarters. The driver came on the overhead, declaring the rather obvious location, waking Rose.

"I want to stay here," sighed Rose.

"Me too," replied Scorpius, still running his fingers through Rose's hair. As usual, she reached for Scorpius' hand as they got off the train on to the unexpectedly busy platform. Neither of the fourth-years could see their family, despite minutes of looking. No-one seemed to be leaving.

"Will you give me one last kiss to remember you by? I can't survive a whole week without you otherwise," said Rose, wrapping her hands around Scorpius' neck.

"I was just about to say the same thing." he replied, gently kissing her.

"Rose Weasley!" a shout came from somewhere further up the platform, followed by a woman's protests.

"Ron! Stop it! Ron! Ron, listen to me!"

The couple immediately broke away, and a middle-aged, red-haired man came charging towards Scorpius. Within a matter of seconds, Scorpius was up against a wall, with Ron's wand pressed forcefully against Scorpius' neck.

"Dad!" Rose yelled. "Dad! What are you doing? Get off him!" She pulled her father as hard as she could away from Scorpius.

"What am _I _doing?" he yelled back. "The better question is what is _he_ doing?" Ron started waving his wand in Scorpius' general direction.

"He waskissing me! Because, believe it or not, your little baby is fifteen! And I think I'm quite old enough to have a boyfriend whether you like it or not!"

"She's right, Ron," said a bushy-haired woman of a similar age to the man who seemed to be called Ron.

"If you must, I agree that you're old enough to have a boyfriend, just not in snobby, sadistic Malfoys!" Scorpius kept surprisingly cool throughout the argument, perhaps because of shock or maybe just to prove Ron wrong. Either way, it only seemed to aggravate Rose's father more.

"I'll have you know that Scorpius isn't snobby or sadistic, it's just you holding a stupid childhood grudge against his dad!" exclaimed Rose.

Scorpius tried to intervene. "Rose, it's alright, I get this a lot, it's-"

"But it's not alright!" she screamed, turning to face her boyfriend.

He rubbed the top of her arm, about to attempt trying to convince her that it didn't matter, but Ron pulled her away.

"Get off my daughter!" he yelled.

"Ron! Stop it, you're embarrassing yourself." insisted Rose's mother.

"Damn right you are!" added Rose, tears streaming down her face.

"Scorpius?" Astoria had just emerged from a wall further up the platform.

"I'm really sorry," he said, directing it at all three of the present Weasleys. Ron remained fuming, Rose remained embarrassed and verging on hysterical, so Hermione was the only one to answer.

She leant towards him and said in a stage whisper "I don't know if you knew, but my husband and your father didn't exactly get on at school. I apologise on Ron's behalf."

"No, you bloody well won't!" Ron shouted.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Sorry." she mumbled, but towards Scorpius.

He gave a kind of sympathetic smile to Hermione, and then squeezed Rose's hand, saying "I really am sorry, I shouldn't have caused all of this."

Before Rose could argue, Scorpius was making his way towards a rather bewildered looking dark haired woman who you would assume must have been his mother, although there was very little resemblance.

Rose tried to call his name but her throat was too dry and he'd already vanished into the wall. She stood staring at where he was moments before, and then yelled at her father on the now-empty platform.

"Now look what you've done! You ruin everything!" The last few words were painfully familiar to Ron, but Rose stormed away from her family before she realised the impact of these words.

"Rose," said Hermione, now jogging behind her to try and catch up. "Rose, wait, come back,"

With none of his family left with him, Ron was left blinded by rage on an empty Platform nine and three quarters.

**A/N Hello! Thanks for reading, hopefully more chapters to come soon. By the way, if you didn't get the whole "You ruin everything" bit, it's what Hermione says to Ron at the Yule Ball. Anyway, please review, thank you:)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Just a quick A/N before we start, thank you for all the lovely reviews. It means a lot, and it's very encouraging. Please keep at it, it's such a great feeling when you get good reviews. Even if it's not good, just getting tips on how to improve makes the story better. Thank you reviewers:} Anyway, without further ado, here's...**

Chapter 7

The journey home from Kings Cross was in complete silence. Although all they had to do was find a suitable place to apparate, it was sufficiently awkward. With tears still silently running down Rose's face and he father's anger still very prominent, Hermione couldn't help but wonder if either of them would speak to each other for the rest of the week.

From the smothering darkness, the three Weasleys stood in the centre of a road in Godric's Hollow. It was a fairly quiet street, with houses spread quite far apart and the road leading to a dead end. The Weasley's house stood about halfway-down the gravel road, and had the same sort of rough charm as Ron's childhood home, the Burrow. Rose was almost immediately storming towards her home, Ron making impatient noises in her wake, who was then followed by a very flustered Hermione. She had no idea how to relieve the tension in a situation like this. Their hatred for each other was almost tangible.

As soon as the Weasleys were home, Rose was upstairs and in her bedroom, inevitably still crying. Ron made his way towards the sofa, rubbing his brow and muttering inaudible insults under his breath. His wife didn't know whether they were directed at Scorpius or Rose, but concluded that it was probably both. A few minutes later, she greeted Ron with a mug of hot tea, with one for herself. After a few long gulps, Ron said "Do you really think she's old enough to have a boyfriend?"

"Yes," Hermione replied, knowing that she was treading on thin ice. "We all had dates to the Yule Ball in our fourth year, some with more of a romantic element than others. It's definitely not unheard of."

Ron frowned. "But she's not old enough to be snogging him."

"She wasn't 'snogging him'." Hermione sighed.

"Were you even there? He had his hands all over her."

"Oh, please, Ronald. Don't be so ridiculous. You wouldn't be saying any of this if Scorpius wasn't a Malfoy." Ron glared at her over his tea. "Besides the fact you're totally over exaggerating, Rose had a point when she reminded you of her age. She's not your little girl anymore, Ron. You have to believe in her ability to make her own choices."

"And what if I don't?" he snapped.

"And if you don't, your relationship with her will just fall apart. If she can't have your trust she'll just break away from you."

Ron stayed silent for a few moments. "All this is a mistake. I know it."

"Even if it is a mistake, if she didn't make any she'd never learn. You have to let her go Ron, let her make her own choices."

The flow of mumbled insults continued.

/VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV\

Rose's tears smudged the ink on the parchment in front of her. She wasn't entirely sure why she was still crying. Perhaps out of embarrassment. Perhaps out of the sheer dread that Scorpius might never forgive her or her father. Perhaps because she was simply scared that the argument was where her relationship with Scorpius had ended. Rose leant back from her letter, waiting for her tears to stop, and read the letter whilst she waited.

_Dear Scorpius,_

_I am so, so sorry about what happened on the platform. I should have known my dad would explode at the sight of you. Not that's it's your fault. It's most definitely not _your_ fault. I should have told him about us beforehand. But then again he should have been more in control. I am so ashamed of him, I just hope you can forgive __him__me __us. I just don't want to lose you. Please write back soon. Oh, and tell your mum I'm not usually as hysterical as I was then. It wasn't exactly a good first impression._

_Missing you,_

_Rose x_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

_Well, at least this trip was useful in one sense: I know never to come to Norway again, _thought Scorpius Malfoy as he stood on the borders of the protective charms over Malfoy Manor. He had not enjoyed the trip away for two reasons. Firstly, the weather was so bitterly cold that even an early British spring was warmer and secondly because he had missed Rose terribly. Every time he saw an owl he'd remember their conversation on the train, and every time he saw a redheaded teenage girl he could help but compare them to Rose. Not one of the girls were more beautiful than his girlfriend.

His parents lifted the defensive spells, and soon enough all of them where inside the house. If it could be called a house. In Scorpius' opinion, it was far too big to be warm or welcoming. It had always been more of a residence than a home to Scorpius. Had it not held so many ancestral treasures, the small family would have moved out years ago.

It was the day before he went back to school, and frankly Scorpius couldn't wait. He'd see Rose again for the first time in a week, and hopefully convince her that the platform incident (as it was now known) was not an issue. The name Malfoy had certainly earned him some trouble in his life, and to Scorpius this occasion wasn't much different. At least, that was the story Rose would hear. In actual fact, Scorpius had worried about the platform incident his entire holiday. He genuinely loved Rose, and to not have her father's consent was a huge issue for him. What if one day they got married? Rose's father would be fuming. Scorpius doubted he'd want to walk her down the aisle. "Scorpius?"

Scorpius was shocked to hear his mother's voice introducing him back to the real world. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Fine. Just lost in thought."

His mother gave him a worried stare, but she didn't pass any other comments. She meant well, but at the minute there was nothing she could do to help, unless she knew a spell on how to completely change some-one's perception. Perhaps there was one... No. Unforgivable Curses are not deemed attractive in a boyfriend.

"Masters and mistress, dinner will be served shortly." said a squeaky voice belonging to the Malfoy's house elf. Receiving no reply, the elf scurried back towards the kitchens. Draco was too busy looking at his son, trying to decipher what was wrong with him, and Astoria was glancing between the two of them, now worrying about both.

"I'll go and unpack," she said, picking up a few suitcases of luggage and taking them back to her quarters.

Draco and Scorpius were left in the entrance alone. After several seconds of silence, Draco said "What's wrong with you? You've been acting strangely all week."

Once again, Scorpius was snapped out of a daydream. "Oh, urm, nothing. I'm fine. Honestly."

"I don't believe you." replied his father.

"I'm just... nervous."

"About?"

Scorpius sighed. "School and stuff."

"That's a bit vague. What about 'school and stuff'?"

Scorpius gave a humourless laugh. "I think we both know the answer to that."

"It's not that Rose girl, is it?"

"So Mum didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

Scorpius recited what had happened on the platform. There was an excruciating silence at the end of his speech. "Dad?"

The silence dragged. "I don't know what to say. Ron Weasley never accepted purebloods as human. I wouldn't dwell on it too much."

"How is that even possible? Dad, he's the father of my girlfriend, there's a bit of an issue when he goes wild at the sight of me."

Draco shrugged his shoulders. "Then I'm as clueless as you are." he said, dragging his suitcase across the black, stone floor, taking the same path that Astoria did.

/VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV\

The next day was warmly welcomed by Scorpius. He was at King's Cross unaccompanied, getting his mother to side-apparate with him to the station before she apparated back to their home. He was sat in a bustling Muggle cafe with a black coffee in hand, looking for a way to kill half an hour. He'd resorted to drumming his fingers against the plain white cup to keep himself occupied.

"Scorpius!" There was an excited shout from behind him. He turned around just in time to see a blur of long, flaming red hair coming towards him. Before he knew what had hit him (quite literally), he was locked in a tight hug. "I'm so glad to see you!" she squealed.

Scorpius couldn't help but laugh. "It's good to see you again, too." He finally got a good look at her face when she pulled away. She was more tanned than usual, apparently forced to see the outdoors when she had nothing but a Muggle library to retreat to. "I missed you so much. I couldn't stop thinking about you."

Rose smiled broadly. "Likewise."

"I got you a present," Scorpius smiled, picking up a bronze-coloured cage from beneath the table. He held it up to Rose's eye level, and she started squealing again. Inside the cage was a tiny brown owl, speckled with darker spots on its back. It had huge yellow eyes that widened when the squealing began.

"He's so cute! Has he got a name?" asked Rose.

"Not yet, although I have a feeling he might do soon," he smirked.

"Hmm... How about Tristan? He was a knight at the round table in Arthurian legends, right?"

"Urm, yeah?" Scorpius joked. "History of Magic isn't my strong suit."

"Well then, Tristan it is!" Rose said to the cooing owl. This got Rose and Tristan a few strange looks. "Shall we head for the platform, then?"

"Sure," said Scorpius, jumping down from his bar-stool-style seat, downing the rest of his coffee, and dragging / carrying several suitcases.

Rose and Scorpius were one of the first to bag a seat on the train, sitting as they had on the last journey. Most of the conversation was built on insubstantial things. Small talk about Scorpius' trip and grasped opportunities to say how it would have been so much better with the respective person. But just as the train started to billow clouds of steam and as the younger students' parents waved from the platform, a more serious topic was taken on.

"How are you and your dad?" asked Scorpius.

Rose grimaced at the table in front of them. "Not fantastic. Let's just say he's definitely not a member of the Malfoy fan club, especially when it involves his first child being in her first relationship."

"Is he more annoyed at you or me?"

Rose gave this some thought. "Hard to say. Sometimes you'll catch him muttering things about purebloods, but he hasn't spoken a word to me since last week. I'd say we're kind of even."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Why?" asked Rose. "I'm not."

"Because I don't want to be the reason you don't speak with your dad for months."

Rose took her head off Scorpius' shoulder and looked into his grey eyes. "I'll do anything to be with you. If that means pretending my dad doesn't exist, it means pretending my dad doesn't exist. I'm willing to do that. Besides, I'm not overly keen on talking to such a prejudiced scumbag anyway."

"Don't call your dad a 'prejudiced scumbag'. You'll miss him, and you'll regret that."

Rose scoffed. "You willing to bet on it? I could make some money here."

Scorpius stayed quiet.

"Sorry. Wrong thing to say. But I meant what I said before. I'll do anything to stay with you. No matter what."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N Hey guys! I was just thinking that you might think my description of Rose is really off, but I'm going off how I imagined her, not how the movies portrayed her. Personally, I was really disappointed at who they cast as Rose. The only thing my Rose and Helena Barlow have in common is the colour of their hair. I pictured her more like a young Kirsten Dunst and Georgie Henley hybrid. Anyway, moving on...**

Chapter 9

"Is it true?" asked Lily Potter excitedly.

"Is what true?" Rose replied doggedly. She knew exactly what the answer was, because people had been asking her the same question all day. Behind textbooks, across desks, along the corridors and in an ambush as she went to the toilets; she had never been free of nosy, gossiping girls. She wondered if Scorpius had been nagged as much as she had been.

"About you and Scorpius!" she giggled. Rose was right.

"Yes," Rose replied. Lily squealed and started jumping up and down. Rose failed to find what was so incredibly exciting for her.

Grabbing both of Rose's hands, she asked "Have you kissed yet?"

"Rose!"

Lily let go. "Well have you?"

"Well, yes but-"

Another explosion of squealing.

"Does Uncle Ron know?" Lily gasped. "He'd be furious! You know because Scorpius is a pureblood and that?"

"About that-" Rose explained the platform incident and her father's frostiness over the past week.

"Ooh! Forbidden love, how romantic!"

"Please, it's not exactly Romeo and Juliet is it? Dad's not going to have me exiled. Anyway, I don't care what he thinks. Mum agrees with me and I'm not breaking up with Scorpius because of dad's pettiness. It's only a matter of time before one of us changes our minds, and it's not going to be me."

Lily stayed quiet for a moment. "What does exiled mean?"

Rose shook her head. "Bye, Lily." she said, making her way to her common room, leaving behind her very confused cousin.

To get to the common room, Rose had to go up several flights of stairs, rather foolishly reading a book on Advanced Herbology on the way. She had just reached a part on the medicinal properties of Belladonna when she ran into something and the book fell to the floor. That something was Hugo. He had stayed at Hogwarts over the holidays because he had travel sickness, and his parents agreed it wasn't worth him coming over. The stairs started to turn. Rose picked up her book and stuffed it in her bag. Hugo looked at her with badly-disguised revulsion.

"What are you looking at?" she snapped.

"The girl who is _supposed_ to be my sister."

Rose scoffed. "Oh, please go on, Hugo. What have I done this time?"

"Is it true that you are now dating Scorpius Malfoy?"

"Yes, but it's none of your business."

"Then if it is true, why does half the school know before I do, and when I do find out it's not even from you, it's from Albus?"

"How do you expect me to answer that?"

Hugo's brow furrowed as he tried to summon a reply. He was never as articulate as his older sister. The stairs were now pointing in the direction of the common room. Rose walked up the stairs, pointedly walking into her brother's shoulder as she went to revise.

**A/N 2: I'm kind of coming to a stand-still here. Any ideas for where this story is headed is much appreciated. Please keep reviewing and I don't know what the other R in R&R stands for, but whatever it is, do that too. Thanks for reading! Jodie-Luna x**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Quidditch. Rose had taken lessons in her first year, but had no chemistry with the sport. She was a mediocre player, and had never had an exceeding amount of interest in it, so she never auditioned to be on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. However, Scorpius was one of the best Chasers the whole of Slytherin had to offer, so he would be playing in today's match. Rose had looked for him all morning, but without success. Just when she was making her way to the stands, she saw a group of people dressed in green and silver. She immediately saw Scorpius somewhere near the back of the pack. She ran up to him. "Hey, handsome!" she giggled, much to the beaters' disgust.

"Hi! I've been looking for you, where have you been?"

"All over the place, looking for you!"

The Slytherin captain scowled. "Haven't you got something better to do?" he asked Rose.

"What, than talk to my boyfriend? No, not really." The captain gave Rose a scornful look. He was rather stupid and often resorted to brute force when confronted, but of course Rose was a girl so his options were severely limited. "Anyway, I just came over to wish you luck, be careful, won't you?"

Again, the Slytherin captain interrupted. "You don't get anywhere in Quidditch by being careful."

"I will." said Scorpius loudly, talking to Rose but obviously directing it at his captain.

Rose gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Ravenclaw don't stand a chance," she smiled. "Love you," she added, before jogging in the opposite direction to head for the stands.

/VVVVVVVVVVV\

Rose sat with the Gryffindors, but of course she was the only one cheering when Slytherin scored. The stereotypical Gryffindor - Slytherin hatred had worked its way through generations, and the vast majority of Gryffindors were rooting for Ravenclaw. It was about half way through the game, and so far it was uneventful. Ravenclaw and Slytherin were currently tied at fifty points. There had been no fouls to liven up the event nor adrenalin-fuelled arguments with the referee, so the stands had been fairly quiet. It was unusual for a game to be this slow. Rose was losing interest until she saw that Scorpius had the Quaffle. This induced a rather large, disapproved amount of cheering. He took a graceful swerve towards the posts, his route clear, when the Ravenclaw seeker, Jacob Chilcott raced towards the post to act as a goalkeeper. Rose gasped, predicting the incident before it happened. It was as if everything was going twice its normal speed, but she caught every detail. How ridiculously high Scorpius and Chilcott were (at least as high as a four-storey building). The look of horror on Scorpius' face as he saw what was coming but was too late to stop it. Jacob still totally oblivious to the impending accident, when suddenly everything came crashing back to normal speed.

Scorpius was falling unstoppably from his broom.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Rose was sat by Scorpius' bedside, clutching his hand so hard it was probably cutting off his circulation. Not that he'd know. With a bloody gash across three-quarters of his forehead, Scorpius was unconscious. Rose made a sudden attempt to control her tears when Madame McKenna drew back the curtains surrounding Scorpius' bed. She, just like her predecessor Madame Pomfrey, was muttering about how dangerous Quidditch was and how it could possibly be allowed in a school as safe as Hogwarts. "Will he be alright, won't he? He's ok, isn't he?" blurted Rose, interrupting the healer's conversation with herself.

"Hmm? Oh, well, he might have suffered a bit of amnesia. You know, memory loss-"

"I know what amnesia is, I'm not stupid!" she yelled. She instantly turned red. "Sorry. I'm just... scared. Carry on."

"Yes," continued Madame McKenna, still a little shocked by Rose's outburst. "From what we know now, I think that is the only possible lasting injury."

"Lasting? What do you mean, _lasting_? That will last a few hours? Days?"

The doctor played with her clipboard awkwardly, scared of another bad reaction. "It could be permanent. Forever."

Rose let out a sound that was part wail, part sob. However it could be described, it was a sound of lost hope. A fresh wave of tears flooded Rose's brown eyes. "W-well how bad will it be? How much won't he be a-able to remember?"

"You must remember, Miss Weasley, that we're not even sure that he has lost any of his memory at all. He might wake up and only have a magnificent gash for his trouble." Madame McKenna shuffled out of the makeshift bedroom, drawing the dated cream curtains as she left.

Rose's emotions got the better of her now she had no-one to shout at. She broke into loud, irregular sobs and leant on Scorpius' shoulder as she did so often. What would be remember? The Quidditch game? His holiday? The platform incident? Would he even remember Rose at all? The thought terrified her. For some sort of comfort, Rose lay next to Scorpius on the lumpy hospital mattress and nestled her head into Scorpius' neck.

"Wake up," she whispered. "Please wake up."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Rose was in an unfamiliar place. Tiny white clouds were the only thing distinguishing the sky from a block of pure, bright blue. For now, it was all she was aware of. She seemed to be lying down. She sat up and saw a field that spanned for miles and miles. She could see nothing but the field and the sky. The field was speckled with dainty wild flowers, in pale yellow, brilliant white and pallid lilac. Rose stood and turned around. Nothing but unkempt grass that swayed around her knees and those in the aforementioned list. Normally, such appearing in such a circumstance would panic a lone wanderer, but Rose had never felt so at peace. She ambled, for unknown reasons, in a seemingly random direction, running her hands along the tops of the grass that tickled the palms of her hands. She smiled, in ecstasy. But the next moment, an unforeseeable ledge made Rose stumble. She fell amongst the foliage, looking back at the four-foot ledge. The plants around her immediately shrivelled and browned, collapsing before turning to dust. Within seconds, her surroundings had gone from a lush paradise to a deserted plain. That was when she realised how truly alone she was. No signs of life for miles, and no companion. She looked around desperately, then saw a lifeless heap in front of her. It had no remarkable features, but she instantly knew what it was. She rushed over to it.

"Scorpius?" she whispered. Not a movement answered her. "Scorpius?" Rose shook him, an unbearable pain seared in her chest. She started to scream his name frantically, wishing for a reply of any form. A tear rolled of her face and landed on to his. As if it was an elixir of life, he woke. She pulled him into a relieved hug. "I thought you died! Why didn't you answer me?"

He pulled away from her as if she had a contagious disease. "What are you doing? Who are you?" Scorpius stood up, hands extended to his sides, ready for an attack.

Rose stayed on the floor, shocked and disbelieving. "I'm Rose, don't you remember? I'm Rose, I'm your girlfriend."

He frowned at her.

"Please," she begged.

Then Scorpius' arm began to flake. A vacant expression filled his face. Rose knew exactly what was happening.

"No!" she screamed, clutching at the hand that wasn't disintegrating. "Don't leave me here!"

It didn't stop. His entire arm had disappeared and the rest of his body was quickly following. Then, like the flowers, he had gone.

The earth began to shake violently. Rose did nothing to protect herself, to stop the quake. What did it matter? At least if she died she'd be with Scorpius. The shaking continued, gradually getting more and more aggressive. A voice came from somewhere in the now grey sky. "Miss Weasley?" What was it? "Miss Weasley!"

Her eyes snapped open. She was no longer in a dying world, but in a hospital bed. "Miss Weasley?" Rose rolled over reluctantly. First she saw untamed dirty blonde hair, and then brown eyes much like her's. It was Madame McKenna. Her face brought back memories that divided Rose's imaginary world from reality. She remembered where she was when she fell asleep, and panicked.

"Where's Scorpius?" she demanded.

"Mr Malfoy is further down her hall, but-"

No buts. If Scorpius was here she was going to see him. Rose leapt from her bed and made a beeline for the boy with white-blond hair and a bloody forehead. Rose sat down in the dated chair by his bedside, holding his hand with as much anxiety as she had in her dream. His eyes were flickering open, but for at least two minutes he couldn't keep them open for more than three seconds at a time. He must have realised he had a visitor, and he tilted his head in Rose's direction. The blurred image of red hair filled him with hope, encouragement to open his eyes properly.

He moved Rose's hand so it was on top of his, resting on the pillow next to his head. He gave a smile, and pulled Rose's hand to his lips. "Hello, beautiful." he said, after dropping their hands to his side.

Rose smiled, teary-eyed. "Well, you remember _me_. That's a start."

Madame McKenna came rushing over (well, she rushed as much as a plump woman could) and immediately separated the couple with a bundle of questions, each one getting progressively more difficult. Not that any of them would be hard for any healthy person.

"What year is it?"

"2024."

"Who's Minister of Magic?"

"Kingsley Shacklebolt."

"What day is it?"

"... I don't know."

"What lesson do you have next?"

"I've no idea. Let's just hope it's no-one that cares about my absence."

The rally of questions continued. After about a minute of solid questions and answers, Madam McKenna concluded he had a little amnesia, but nothing severe. She added that she wanted to keep him in for the rest of the day, that if Rose noticed any symptoms other than slight forgetfulness that she had to let her know straight away and that he would be moved to St Mungo's. She drew the dirty-white curtains again, finally leaving Scorpius and Rose in peace.

"Which questions did I get wrong?" asked Scorpius, wondering why he had been diagnosed with memory-loss. "What happened to me?"

"Well, it's Saturday. You were playing Quidditch against Ravenclaw. Do you remember?" Scorpius shook his head gently. "Anyway, you had the Quaffle, and you were doing ever so well until that bastard Jacob Chilcott got in your way. He knocked you off your broom and you must have fallen at least forty feet. You've been in here ever since, which has been about four or five hours. You've been completely out of it until I came over." She paused, lowering her voice. "I was so scared."

Scorpius gave her a look of genuine sympathy. "You shouldn't have been. Anyway, I'm here now!"

"Yes," she smiled. "And I couldn't be happier."

**A/N Aww. How sweet. Anyway, please keep reviewing and you'll get a shout-out in the next chapter! Thanks to Volthe for the detail, The Hennahito for continuous updates, and also to TVCrimeDramaFANATIC, fantasygirl20 and tendulkar for the reviews. It means a lot to me; this story is like my lifeblood right now. See you in the next chapter! Jodie-Luna x**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

**A/N Hey readers! Just going to announce my love for you again, especially my lovely reviewers:} No new reviewers D: But The Hennahito and fantasygirl20 left an amazing reviews that made me so happy! Thank you! But moving on, here is an admittedly not-so-brilliant Chapter 13!**

The sky was orange, tainted with hints of purple in the west. The sun was rising. Upon noticing this, Madam McKenna told Scorpius he could leave the hospital. She worried about when to wake him, but after finding that he hadn't slept all night, she chose sun rise as an appropriate time to dismiss him. And Rose. She had stayed all night in that dated chair, eyelids heavy but open for as long as Scorpius' were. They spoke in hushed voices for the whole night, about things neither of them could remember.

Hands linked, as usual, the couple wondered where to go. A British spring meant a walk would be too cold, but it was too late to head back to the Common Room to get some sleep, too early to do anything productive. Just when they were about to give up and part ways to their dormitories, Rose came up with an idea.

"Where?" asked Scorpius.

Rose smirked, and tapped the side of her nose, twice. Scorpius rolled his eyes, but still allowed himself to be dragged up several flights of stairs by a very excited Rose. She stopped, without warning, in the middle of a corridor Scorpius had never been on before. She stared at the plain wall before her, frowning. Scorpius looked at her for a while before curiosity got the better of him.

"What are you looking at?"

"Shh!" she snapped.

Scorpius and Rose stood in the otherwise deserted corridor for at least five minutes.

"Rose, whatever it is you're waiting for, I don't think it's coming," said Scorpius gently.

"No! It will! Just wait another minute," Rose scrunched up her forehead more. Seconds later, a black pattern confined in an arc appeared in the wall. Rose started to giggle as its appearance became more and more noticeable. "I told you it would work!" She walked through what was now a door, and motioned for Scorpius to join her.

The room was quite remarkable. It had high ceilings, elaborate chandeliers and was furnished in a deep, luxurious red. The two inviting sofas that were in the centre of the large room were made of red velvet with gold edging. Between them was a small mahogany table laden with antique vases and candlesticks. Rose smiled, impressed with her work.

"Did you conjure all this?" asked Scorpius, intrigued.

"In a way," smiled Rose, modestly. "If you want something badly enough when you stand out there, this room will adapt to your needs. It's very advanced magic, well, for whoever designed it originally. Not the user, so much."

She watched Scorpius as he tried to take in his surroundings: there was so much to look at.

"They call it the Room of Requirement, or the Come and Go room. It's in most of the books concerning Hogwarts. Even the smartest magicians don't truly understand how it works, or how the creator set it up. They reckon it was Rowena Ravenclaw."

"Then Rowena Ravenclaw was a very clever woman," said Scorpius, still mesmerised.

"Yes," agreed Rose. "Quite remarkable."

Scorpius walked over to the window. "Is this real?" he gestured towards the glass. "Or is it just an illusion?"

Rose had never considered this before. "I suppose it's an illusion. For a place so secretive I can't imagine it would have windows." She studied the sunrise. "It knows what time it is, what the weather's like, possibly what day it is considering there's no-one in the Herbology classrooms. I don't know. It's very accurate for such ancient magic."

Scorpius smiled. "Have I stumped the brightest witch of our age?"

"Oh shush," she said, but she couldn't help but smile as she gave him a playful shove and joined him at what may have been a window. "So, what can you remember now?"

Scorpius frowned. "That's a hard question... I can't remember any of yesterday. I'm just sort of aware of it. Do you know what I mean? I can't remember any events, but I know that it happened." He looked at Rose, who was undoubtedly confused. "Never mind. It's hard to explain."

They both looked out on to the grounds, the sunlight pouring through the trees and bathing the grass in a yellow glow. It was so still; it could have been a Muggle photograph if the trees weren't swaying. It looked unexplored and inviting.

"We can't stay in here on a day so beautiful." said Rose.

"I agree; is a walk in order?"

Rose smiled, and held out her hand.

**A/N I'm so stumped! I need a new storyline! I'd love to hear any ideas, they don't have to be detailed or fully-formulated, just something to inspire me please! Coupled with a review would be fantastic;)Thanks again for reading and reviewing. Jodie-Luna x**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Rosie! Rosie!" The unmistakeable shrill voice of Lily Potter echoed down the corridor. She bounced to her cousin's side. "What's up with you, misery guts?"

'Misery guts' was perhaps a little extreme, but then Lily's view from Planet Hyper would be. She was constantly energetic, over-whelming to some, but happy-go-lucky Lily would never be phased by complaints that she was annoying.

"It's a long story." replied Rose. It wasn't really, but she didn't want Lily scouting for gossip whilst she had other things on her mind.

"We've got..." she looked down at her watch. "Twenty-two and a half minutes before we need to go to fourth lesson. So spill! We've got time!"

Rose sighed. "You know the most part. At Saturday's Quidditch match, when Scorpius got knocked off his broom, remember? He lost all his memory from that day, which is a shame because I would have liked him to know what that utter fool Chilcott did to him. He hasn't had any punishment but he deserves it. What he did was completely intentional. No-one else seems to think anything of it because they were preoccupied with the accident itself instead of its cause. Every-one has told me to drop it, even Professor Longbottom, but I don't want to. It's irking me."

"Irking, that's a funny word," giggled Lily.

"Oh shut up." snapped Rose. "You've got all your news, so run along and tell the whole Weasley clan that Rose is being ridiculous again."

"I wasn't _going_ to tell the whole Weasley clan about you're being ridiculous. In actual fact, I can help, but if you're going to be like that maybe I won't."

"Get off your high Hippogriff. Tell me or don't tell me but don't hang it over me."

Lily stared at Rose, pursing her lips as she wondered whether to tell her.

"You know I can't keep a secret." said Lily, giving in. "We were studying remedial charms in class earlier this week and there was one to restore memory. It works faultlessly, with no side-effects or anything, but that's only if it's performed spot on. It's brilliant, but so hard to get right. Of course, you can't practise on anything because after the spell's cast you still won't know if it works, never mind finding some-one or something with a lost memory in the first place. But it's so dangerous, Rose; that's probably why Madam McKenna didn't use it originally. You'd have to be really desperate to use it. Don't you think this circumstance is a bit... trivial to risk so much?"

"It's not trivial, it's about justice! If Scorpius can remember it's two people's views against one. Chilcott will have to get some punishment. Now tell me the spell."

"But Rose, I really don't think-"

"Tell me." growled Rose, grabbing Lily's arm and digging in her nails.

"Ow!" yelped Lily. "Fine. It's _atkurtia._ But please, Rose, think this through before you do anything you regret."

Rose smiled broadly. "Thank you, Lily!" She was already running down the corridor when she shouted: "They don't call me the brightest witch of my age for nothing!"

**A/N Hope you guys enjoyed reading! I've got a really got plot coming up that was inspired by / given to me by The Hennahito. I think you'll like it! Anyway, now I know what R&R stands for, please keep R&Ring! Thanks for your loyalty - Jodie-Luna x**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

All of Hogwarts' students were gathered in the Great Hall for dinner. As always, a parliament of owls came flying in overhead, dropping letters and packages in front of about a hundred students. Rose was quite taken aback when a white scroll almost landed in the pile of mashed potato before her. She wasn't expecting any letters, as her parents almost never wrote to her unless she had written to them. Rose realised that she last spoke to her mother over a month ago, her father even longer due to the platform incident. She came to the conclusion that it was just a check-up from her family. She removed the hastily attached ribbon and unravelled the letter. It read:

_Rose._

_Hugo told me you're still seeing Malfoy. I have told you time and time again to avoid that damned family and yet you still don't seem to get the message. What do I have to do? Cut off your supply of books? Put a tracking spell on you? I am sick and tired of you trying to rebel against me. I have had enough of your ridiculous behaviour. If you never listen to me again, listen to me now: that family is nothing but trouble. __Stay away from Malfoy. __If I hear another word, another hint that you have spoken a word to that boy you will live to regret it. If you don't understand, I expect an owl._

_Your father._

Albus was sat next to Rose, laughing heartily. "He called himself 'your father': he must be angry!"

After a disapproving look, Rose scrunched up the letter in her fist and stormed out of the door. Unfortunately for Hugo, he had just started to make his way towards to Common Room when Rose saw him.

"You complete idiot!" she cried, grabbing the back of his shirt and turning him round. "Why the hell did you tell Dad that I'm still dating Scorpius?"

"I didn't! I swear! What are you talking about?"

"This!" she yelled, briefly shoving the letter into his face. "Dad's being an arse about Scorpius and now if he sees him again he'll probably kill him! What in the name of Merlin were you thinking?"

"_I _wasn't thinking anything because I haven't said anything to Dad about you or Scorpius or any-one else for that matter! He hasn't spoken to me for weeks! And how come it's my fault?"

Rose let go of his shirt. "Do you swear on Mum's life that you didn't say anything?"

"Yes!" he cried.

Rose looked at the floor, her cheeks flushed red with anger. "Then who said it?"

Hugo shrugged. "How should I know?"

The following seconds were filled with silence, before Hugo started to walk back up the stairs.

/VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV\

Rose was sat on the steps leading up to the Owlery, looking absently into the distance whilst she tried to untangle the web of thoughts in her head.

"Hey," said a familiar voice that knocked Rose out of her trance. "I've been looking for you everywhere." Scorpius sat next to Rose. "What were you looking at?"

"Um, nothing. Just thinking."

"About?" he asked, brushing stray wisps of hair off Rose's cheek.

"Nothing important. Just Dad, and his medieval ways." Rose explained about the letter.

"What a coincidence. Or maybe not." said Scorpius thoughtfully.

Rose looked at him curiously. "I sense a theory coming up," she smiled.

"It's weird," Scorpius continued. "My dad sent me a cryptic letter about judging where my loyalties lie. Maybe that's what he meant. Maybe he meant you."

Rose felt suddenly guilty. "So, what do you think brought on this outburst of relationship reviewing?" she asked after a few moments' thought.

Scorpius shook his head and shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"You don't think they've had an argument or something, do you?" asked Rose cautiously.

"I don't know. It would make sense, but we mustn't jump to conclusions. It might just be a coincidence." offered Scorpius.

"I doubt it. It would take quite a lot to break Dad out of his silent ways. I hope he's not done something stupid."

"Hey, for all we know nothing could have happened. We'll just have to wait and see, I guess."

Rose leaned on Scorpius' shoulder. "Yeah. I suppose we will."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Ron and Hermione were in their house in Godric's Hollow, Hermione using an old-fashioned typewriter to write a script for the next debate on the rights of House Elves and Ron drinking a cup of tea, absently frowning at the floor. "What are you scowling for now, Ronald?" asked Hermione, looking at her husband over the top of her reading glasses.

He mumbled a reply that could only be deciphered by some-one who had spent years with Ron: "That bloody Malfoy. Or should I say _Malfoys._"

"For Merlin's sake, would you just drop that? That was days ago." she said, returning to her typing.

"Would you stop being so forgiving? He was asking for an argument."

"No he wasn't, Ronald, you embarrassed the both of us once again by letting the slightest thing get to you. I'm sure he was only trying to be polite, after all, it would make sense. He is the father of our daughter's boyfriend, potentially Rose's father-in-law. Maybe you should learn to accept that. Draco's changed since we were at school, yet you still hold him to his teenage mistakes." explained Hermione.

Ron made a noise of disagreement.

"What was that, dear?" she snarled. Ron pretended he hadn't heard her and took another long sip of his tea. "Ronald."

After a prolonged silence, she took an exaggerated sigh and recollected on that eventful and frankly rather embarrassing day in Diagon Alley.

She was looking for a book she hadn't read for years called _Hogwarts: A History. _She had missed the school ever since she had left, and in an unanticipated burst of homesickness, she was attempting to track the book down in the shelves of Flourish and Blotts. Ron being Ron, he lingered at her side like an old dog: wanting nothing more than to sit down but still loyally staying beside his master (or mistress, as it were). He looked around the shop, when a head of white-blond hair caught his eye. "Oh god," he muttered.

"Stop moaning, Ronald. I couldn't care less the Quidditch matches I watch with you, but I watch them anyway. It's time you repaid the favour," said Hermione, still scanning the shelves.

"I'm not moaning at _you, _I'm moaning at our best friend at six o'clock."

Hermione already knew who Ron was talking about, but turned around purely for confirmation. Sure enough, there was Draco Malfoy with his wife Astoria. They were talking to a member of staff, but they were so far away and the shop was so full that there was no chance that Ron nor Hermione could catch a word they were saying. Hermione sighed and continued the hunt for her book. "They're just minding their own business, and I recommend that you do the same."

Ron mumbled a number of expletives under his breath and half-heartedly looked for the book. A few seconds later, Draco and Astoria appeared beside Ron and Hermione.

"Good afternoon," smiled Draco.

Ron made what could only be described as a horse-like noise of dissatisfaction and suddenly developed a deep interest in his boots. Hermione elbowed his in the ribs before replying politely.

"So, you do know about Scorpius and Rose, don't you?" asked Draco.

"Too right we do..." said Ron.

"Shut up, Ronald!" snapped Hermione. "Yes, we do. They seem very happy together: it's lovely." she said to Draco.

"I was just thinking that for their sake we should wipe the slate clean, forget about any of our... differences that have previously caused problems." proposed Draco. All the while, Astoria stood a little behind him, looking extremely timid and probably with good reason.

"Differences?" scoffed Ron. "I'd say we've got more than just _differences._ You're a foul, racist, treacherous, ex-Death Eater; how could we possibly forget that, you idiotic scumbag?"

"Ron!" squealed Hermione, but it was too late to have effect.

"You just described the boy I was twenty years ago. I've changed since then, but apparently you haven't." responded Draco calmly. Astoria held his upper arm and whispered something inaudible, but Hermione could easily tell that she was trying to get him to back down.

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Ron, his voice and temper rising.

"It means that you can't let go of a blind, teenage grudge and that you would rather spend the rest of your days insulting me and my son than forgive me for mistakes I made two decades ago." His steady voice only aggravated Ron further.

"Well from my experience, people don't change, so why should you?" yelled Ron, attracting the attention of several customers.

"Let's just go Ron, we'll talk about it another time-" ushered Hermione, but her attempts to calm her husband were in vain, and he continued to shout.

"Why don't you away from my family? All of you!"

Draco held up his hands in defeat and stepped away. "Fine," he said, in almost a whisper. "If you want to be like that then that's just fine. I was only trying to make everything easier."

"Yeah? Well that didn't work too well, did it?" Ron shouted, his face turning as red as his hair. At that point, Hermione finally managed to half- guide-half-push her husband out of the shop that was now filled with curious onlookers.

**A/N I hope you guys enjoyed the little belated sixteenth chapter! Thanks again to my lovely reviewers: The Hennahito and fantasygirl20 :) Keep Calm and Review On!**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

It was a day like any other; an uneventful Wednesday that had little promise to become interesting. Rose was on her way to her third lesson, Charms. She considered Charms a dull subject, but excelled in it nonetheless. The class was made up of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, which was rather unfortunate for Rose as she had to suffer Jacob Chilcott, the fool who knocked Scorpius off his broom. Since the incident, Rose had given him malice-ridden glares but would probably be forced to make conversation with him in Charms. By the time Rose arrived, his bag was already on her seat and he was sorting out one length of parchment from another. She stormed over angrily, slamming her bag on the desk and carelessly pushing Jacob's to the floor.

"Well?" he said, gesturing towards his bag.

Rose looked at him, then the bag before replying with a sarcastic "Oops.".

Jacob glowered but said no more. Just in time, Professor Hart hobbled up the central aisle made by a gap in two wooden benches. "Good morning, class." she announced.

The mumbled, unenthusiastic reply was "Good morning, Professor.". She was the only teacher in Hogwarts to insist on this exchange of greeting.

Professor Hart continued to rant about how useful remedial charms were but how the class could only learn the basics unless they wanted a career in healing. Rose's attention was more focused on her anger with the Ravenclaw next to her. Not only had he stupidly put Scorpius at risk, he showed no remorse afterwards. She wondered if she had ever disliked some-one with such a vengeance before. "How's the boyfriend?" he sneered.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Chilcott, but he's fine. Maybe you need to perfect your technique on trying to kill some-one." Rose snapped. It was a good job her professor was old and half-deaf.

Chilcott laughed. "I wasn't trying to _kill_ any-one, just knock your pathetic boyfriend of his high Hippogriff."

"Don't you think this scenario was a tad too literal?"

"I'd call it seizing the moment." he smiled. He made Rose's skin crawl.

As if on cue, an aged thick book landed between Rose and Jacob. It looked as if it was made during the 1940's. The font, the image on the front, the colour and state of the pages: everything said that it had survived the Muggle World War. They were lucky to have the page number had been written on the board, or else they would have to admit they hadn't listened to a word Professor Hart said.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Rose and Scorpius were at what had become their usual spot; the often deserted west-face of Hogwarts. As usual, no-one was in sight, and the night was just closing in. Rose had her hands linked behind Scorpius' neck, and his arms were wrapped around her waist. Rose looked up in to Scorpius' grey eyes playfully and smiled.

"Do you trust me?" she asked quietly.

"Of course I do." he replied softly.

Rose retreated from Scorpius' grasp and stood at least six feet away from him. Her wand arm was extended, and the spell was on the tip of her tongue. Merlin knows how many times she had caught herself whispering he incantation to herself in the hope that if she said it enough all chances of failure would be destroyed. But it didn't work like that. She had one opportunity to do it right. One chance to get the justice she and Scorpius deserved, to get wipe that arrogant smile from Chilcott's face. She took a deep breath, bit her lip, and finally plucked up enough courage.

"_Atkurtia!_" she shouted, and she was immediately plunged into darkness.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

**A/N Hey reader! Well, I've already named what I'm thankful for: by just by reading you're making me so happy. But if you're reviewing as well, I will love you forever. I'm talking about fantasygirl20 and The Hennahito here. Don't forget there's a free shout-out for my lovely reviewers! Right, without further ado, here's Chapter 19:**

The girls in Gryffindor dormitory started to worry about Rose's whereabouts. As girls do, they couldn't go for the calm way of thinking "Maybe she fell asleep in the library" or "Maybe she's in the Common Room doing homework", but instead went for the radical alternatives and were worrying themselves silly. One girl, Madeline Young, who definitely lived up to her Gryffindor status by being loud and confident, declared that she was going to look for Rose. But once again the girls showed their stereotypes and travelled in packs. In this case, Madeline's accomplice was Lily Potter, who had won the spot by repeatedly saying "But I'm her cousin!".

The pair had decided against getting help from responsible adults: they were in such a state that if Rose had simply fallen asleep in the library they would have made fools of themselves. After all, Lily's parents had certainly done enough without the help of teachers.

Together they scoured the castle; checking the library, the Great Hall, the kitchens, the bathrooms and even just speed-walking around the corridors for a while, but all attempts to find Rose ended in failure.

"Where else could she be? We've been everywhere in the school!" said Madeline.

Lily frowned, then snapped her fingers. "We've been everywhere _in _the school. We haven't been outside!"

"Outside?" questioned Madeline, doubtfully. "Who would go for a two-hour wander at this time?"

"Ah, I bet she's with Scorpius."

"Well don't be too relieved! Just because she might be with Scorpius doesn't mean she's safe."

They paused for a moment, then Lily remembered a valuable nugget of information. "They go to the west wall of Hogwarts all the time! Let's go there!" Lily immediately fled down the corridor, and soon enough Madeline cottoned on and followed her.

"What if she's perfectly safe and we just walk in on them... making out or something? And it is late, they could be, you know-"

"Rosie's no slut!" exclaimed Lily, offended. "She's only fifteen!"

"Only two years short of age..." said Madeline in a sing-song voice.

"Oh, shut up, Madeline. They could be in danger, both of them, and all you can do is make up gossip!"

It was obvious that the pair didn't sense the gravity of the situation. They hastily made their way to the main doors in a silence that would have been awkward if it wasn't so much adrenalin. As soon as Lily reached the neatly-kept lawn, she broke into a full-on sprint. She didn't care if she embarrassed herself and found Rose perfectly well, all she could think of was the worst. Her stomach was in knots, and halfway to the corner she started screaming for her cousin. Lily could vaguely make out Madeline telling her to shut up, but she didn't matter. Nothing mattered other than Rose.

She turned the corner and saw two figures sprawled across the lawn bathed in moonlight. Lily was shocked into paralysis and silence. She refused to believe what she saw. A girl and a boy with all colour drained from their faces lying motionless on the ground. Lily was barely aware of how shallow her breaths were, how dizzy she was. Madeline catching up with her was what brought Lily back to her senses. Perhaps a little selfishly, she darted past the first figure and ran for the second, redheaded one.

"Rosie!" she screamed through tears."Rosie!"

Lily kneeled beside her cousin's body and stroked her cousin's ginger hair from her cold face. She pulled her torso onto her knees and pressed her forehead to Rose's. Lily ran her fingers through Rose's hair, pleading for her to wake up. She didn't.

With bloodshot eyes, she looked at Madeline who was just gawping. "What are you standing there for?" cried Lily. "Go and get help!"

Madeline soon disappeared from sight. Lily continued to stroke Rose's hair, as if for comfort. "It'll be ok. It'll be ok." she repeated, unsure if she was talking to Rose or herself. What felt like a century later, Madeline returning with a bewildered-looking Madam McKenna. Lily drew shuddery breaths at the sight of her. "Help me," she whimpered.

Lily couldn't remember any more of that horrific night, only the freezing sensation of what must have been the Draught of Living Death down her throat.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

**A/N Hello! Just a quick thank you to fantasygirl20 and The Hennahito for the nice reviews, I would really like to see some new reviewers though -hinthint- Anyway, Chapter 20:**

The first thing Scorpius was aware of was a blinding white light. He tried to work out where he was, and his first conclusion was that he had died. He'd heard things about white lights, but if he was in heaven then surely he wouldn't be in this much agony? His chest burned, his head was throbbing and everything ached. Wasn't everything perfect in heaven? Apparently not. This is when he decided that he was still in fact alive, if only just. His vision became less blurred, and he could work out squares around the light. They must be tiles. Tiles on the ceiling if there was a light there. And if he was looking at the ceiling he must be lying down. On the floor? No, there was fabric beneath him. Fabric that moved freely; it wasn't a carpet. Maybe sheets. That was it! He was on a bed beneath a tiled ceiling with a white light. Scorpius mulled over the description for a while. It wasn't home, so it must be Hogwarts. No, it can't be Hogwarts. It was too clean-cut and modern to be Hogwarts. But where else could he be? Some-one must have taken him to a healer's if he was in so much pain. But why wasn't he in the hospital ward? Oh! Hospitals: he must be in St Mungo's.

A familiar voice came from somewhere Scorpius couldn't place. "Is he waking up?"

"Rose?" he tried to say, but the result was just a mush of letters.

"What did he say then?" It was a woman's voice.

"Rose?" he asked more defiantly.

"Dose? Is he talking about his medicine? Do you think he's in pain?"

"Rose?"

"Shush, sweetheart." Sweetheart? He recognised that pet name. Who called him that? It wasn't Rose... It was his mother. She got here quick. Or had she? How long had he been out?

A man spoke. "We don't know how much the spell effected him. Don't be worried if you can't understand him for a while, it might be one of the symptoms. Let us know if he blacks out again." Scorpius felt a spell flow through his body, or maybe it was a drug. Either way, the pain was dulled a little. He heard footsteps.

"The healer's gone, honey." said his mother.

"Ahwannadeeose." Another failed attempt at communication.

His mother was quiet for a moment, trying to decipher what he said. "Rose?"

He nodded, but it caused him so much pain that he told himself not to do it again.

"You can't, darling."

He panicked. What happened to her? "I?"

"Maybe later. You need to rest, sweetie."

"Ahdunwannaest... Ahwannadeeose."

Something dark clouded his vision for a moment. He realised it was his mother's hair as she kissed his forehead. When she sat up, Scorpius could feel that his forehead was damp. She must be crying.

"Hi," said his mother. What did she mean?

"How is he?" Scorpius realised it must be his dad.

His mother sighed. "Awake."

A creak of a chair meant that his father was sat with his mother. In the following silence, Scorpius drifted back to blissful unconsciousness.

/VVVVVVVVV\

On the other side of the ward, Rose was hooked up to a number of machines and drips while the healers and her parents waited for her to wake. Except for some mud on one side of her face, she didn't have a mark on her. Her parents sat by her side, as they had done for nearly twenty-four hours. Hermione was drinking her sixth coffee and Ron was looking blankly at the heart monitor. This was starting to become a habit.

"Feeling guilty about the silent treatment now?" she asked.

Ron didn't even acknowledge the fact his wife had spoken. He just continued to stare at the monitor as if he was afraid that when he looked away it would stop. For the next few minutes, the only sound was the shrill beep of Rose's heart. One of the healers had set up a charm that meant they couldn't hear the outside world and set up a kind of invisible cage so that no-one could wander in and out of it other than healers.

"What the hell was she doing?" he asked, but not in a tone of anger, more of confusion.

"We'll have to wait for one of them to wake up before we'll find out. The healers are clueless as to what did it."

At that precise moment, a little redheaded girl not dissimilar in looks to Rose ran down the ward. Her face was puffy and pink and tear-stained and she ran into one of the defensive charms a healer had set up. Now in a heap a few feet away from the spell's boundary, Ron and Hermione could see their niece shaking as sobs racked through her. Hermione's maternal instincts kicked in instantly and she flew from her chair and removed all of the defensive charms in a second. She wrapped her arms around her as tried to calm her, but Lily just cried loudly, occasionally shouting between sobs that it was all her fault.

"It's no-one's fault, Lily, shush, it's no-one's fault," repeated Hermione, but soon she had tears running down her face too.

Lily looked up at Rose and the array of liquids that were being pumped through her body. "Rosie!" she screamed, running from Hermione's reach. Lily clutched Rose's hand as a worried healer came on to the ward accompanied by Harry and Ginny.

"Is everything alright?" asked the dark-haired doctor.

Lily shook her head violently. "It's not alright! She's half-dead and it's all my fault!"

"What are you talking about, Lily?" asked Ginny, cautiously.

This brought on a new wave of sobs and it took at least a minute to get any fully formed words out of her. "I told, I told her - the spell - what to do - with, with, the memory - I, I warned her but - she didn't - it's all my fault!"

Ginny pulled her daughter into a tight hug, and Lily buried her head under her mother's chin. Ginny looked at Harry with her eyebrow raised, to which he just shrugged. She looked at every-one in turn, but no-one understood what Lily was trying to say.

The healer summoned a little bottle of baby pink liquid that fizzed and hurried over to Lily, who drunk it without question. The effects were instantaneous. She took several deep breaths, then sat down in a chair. She was completely silent: no half-formed phrases or sobs or anything. She swallowed hard, nervous about what she was going to admit. She looked around, but looking at Rose gave her the courage to spill.

"Rose wanted to retrieve Scorpius' memory so that Jacob Chilcott could get punished for knocking Scorpius off his broom. In class we learnt about some remedial charms, and Professor Hart told us about one that cured memory loss. I thought I was being helpful by telling Rose what it was, and I even warned her about how dangerous it was if it went wrong," - she looked back at Rose and stifled a shudder - "but it looks like she did it anyway." There was no trace of an I-told-you-so tone; it was replaced by a sense of remorse.

The adults looked at each other, unsure of what to say. Apparently, the potion only lasted a certain amount of time, and Lily's bottom lip wobbled as she burst into tears again. The situation being sufficiently awkward, Harry gave Lily a fireman's lift and gave Ron and Hermione his best wishes before he left.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N Sorry this chapter took so long, I've had so much going on this week. Overdue projects and a very ill dog and so on. But anyway, thanks to fantasygirl20 and a new reviewer sanityisnotmything! **

Chapter 21

For the next few days, Scorpius had several magical restraints on him. Any time he tried to stand a huge force would out him back on his bed, an alarm sounded, and a nurse came running with a boiling hot, orange potion that would knock him out for hours. But relentlessly, Scorpius still tried to walk around. Just under a week after he'd first woken up, Scorpius flung his legs over the side of his bed and stood up, half-bracing himself for another dose of that foul potion. But nothing happened. No huge force, no alarm, no nurse with a boiling hot, orange potion, he just stood there unharmed. Lights danced in front of his eyes, and for a second he was overwhelmingly dizzy, but no-one was trying to stop him getting to Rose.

Fortunately for him, Ron and Hermione had gone for lunch and they had forgotten to put the defensive charms back up, so Rose was alone with no barriers. Scorpius ambled across the corridor as fast as some-one in his state could before collapsing in a chair at Rose's bedside. He took a moment to catch his breath and let the pain subside, then stood up so he could see Rose properly. She was hooked up to all sorts of drips and machines, wearing the horrid paper dresses that every long-term patient did. Scorpius looked at her face. It was the only thing that wasn't marred by medical apparatus or covered in stitches or bruised. She looked so little when she wasn't scowling or wearing make-up. Round-faced and freckled, she looked no older than thirteen. Scorpius stroked a wisp of auburn hair from her cheek. What he'd give to be able to wake her.

"Rosie? Will you wake up?" he asked in a whisper. The monotonous beep of her heart was the only reply. "I miss you."

An undoubtedly romantic nurse from across the corridor kept glancing over, which reminded him to put up some defensive spells against eavesdroppers. The pair were now encased in an invisible dome that kept out all sound and unwanted visitors. Scorpius drew the curtains, now able to talk properly in privacy.

"That's better." he said to himself, but the little lights that must have been caused by standing up for too long reminded him that he was still ill and needed to sit down. He pulled the chair closer to Rose's side and sat in it.

"I want you back, Rosie." he said, wondering if she could hear. "I want to go back to Hogwarts. To the west side of the grounds. To watch the sun set with you. I want to talk about nothing, or not talk at all. All I really want is to see you happy again. That's all that matters to me." He held her hand. "Come back, Rosie. Please."

He waited. He didn't know what for. For her to wake up? For her to reply? Maybe both. But neither happened. He decided to return to his bed before some-one noticed his absence, and gave Rose's hand a squeeze. But then she gave a squeeze back.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N It's been so long! I'm sorry. I've had a lot on my plate recently and I haven't found the time to do any writing for too long. But I'm back now! Last note before we start; thanks for the reviews, sanityisnotmything and roseyblack3422!**

Chapter 22

The days passed slowly for every-one. Ron and Hermione had been practically living at St Mungo's, despite the fact their daughter had yet to wake. Scorpius was recovering as he spent more and more time awake and his parents visited regularly though their visits were uneventful.

One evening, when Draco, Astoria, Ron and Hermione were all in the hospital and when Scorpius joined Rose in unconsciousness, the four parents were sat beside each other (through little choice of their own) in the crowded waiting room in the hope of news from healers.

A nurse walked up to the Weasleys. "Excuse me, are you Rose Weasley's next of kin?" With a quick nod of confirmation, the nurse continued. "She's stable, but we can find no reason as to why she hasn't woken up yet. From what we know with memory charms, the effects could last weeks but it's very rare that some-one is out cold for as long as Rose has been. We wanted her to wake naturally but it's been so long that the healers believe it's time to start testing her. You see, once we know precisely what the problem is we can start resolving it. Does she have any medical problems we need to know about before we begin testing, history, allergies, anything like that?" Ron and Hermione shook their heads. "In that case, we'll start testing as soon as possible." The petite nurse scampered away.

Unsure of what to make of the news, Ron and Hermione just scanned the room, avoiding each other's eyes.

"I'm sorry to hear about Rose," said Astoria delicately.

Ron gave her a sharp glance, but Hermione muttered something to him and he stopped.

"Thank you for your concern," replied Hermione, with the same sort of tact that Astoria displayed. "The same to Scorpius. Judging by the frequent visits, he seems to care about Rose a lot."

At this, Ron pulled an uncomfortable expression, but he didn't pass comment.

Astoria smiled. "He does. He's worried about her." She withdrew a breath sharply and stood up. "Are we going, darling?" she asked Draco.

Draco too stood up, but walked in front of Ron. Ron looked him up and down with surprise and curiosity. Uncomfortably, Draco extended his hand. "Seeing as Scorpius and Rose are so unwilling to continue this... Malfoy / Weasley unease, I suggest that we agree to call a truce, almost. An agreement not to continue this petty loathing." Ron continued to look at Draco with confusion. "For them. Please."

Ron let the news sink in for a moment and pondered Draco's offer. He was certain that he and Draco would never be friends, or anything close, but perhaps this 'truce' as he called it might be wise after all. With that, Ron shook hands with Draco. "For them." he echoed.

/VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV\

When Ron and Hermione went to go and see Rose, Scorpius was by her side again. He seemed to be deep in thought as he held Rose's hand. Ron realised that this was hardly anything new, and that he really must care about his daughter.

"Maybe you aren't so bad." said Ron. Scorpius' look of surprise as he turned to face him made Ron wonder if he had been too harsh on this Malfoy boy after all.

"Thanks, Mr Weasley." Scorpius smiled, grateful and relieved.

Ron felt the blood rush to his face. He began to realise just how forgiving the Malfoys were prepared to be, and how rudely he had pushed them away. Of course, Ron would never forgive Draco for treating Hermione the way he did at school, but he did regret being so steely towards the Malfoys in the past few months. Not that there was a way on Earth to get him to admit it. Ron walked away quickly before any-one noticed how red he was.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, roseyblack3422 and fantasygirl20 :) Just a quick note, when the nurse is speaking, it's not typos, it's her accent. Anyway...**

The day of the testing was the worst. Scorpius was forbidden to see Rose as the healers would be working on her the entire day. No-one had even bothered to tell him explicitly what they were doing to her. All he knew was that they were running tests because she hadn't woken up. He didn't know what these tests were for, what they actually consisted of or anything like that. He couldn't even see Rose's bed from where he was sat, he was in the dark about nearly everything. He just had to sit in his bed all day, watching nurses carry drips and needles and potions go to and from Rose's bed. It was torture.

His mother sat by his bedside cradling a mug of tea, sipping it occasionally. "How are you, sweetheart?" she asked.

Scorpius grumbled. "Where's that drip that knocks you out? I want one of those. I can't stand just sitting here, watching."

"You've already asked that. They can't give you any of it, the nurse said it's for operations and severe pain only. Sorry, sweetie."

"I'm _in_ severe pain, though. You don't know what it's like, just watching and waiting and not knowing anything. I love Rose, and no-one will let me near her." He swallowed hard. "That's severe pain. I want that drip."

Astoria sat back in her chair and sipped her tea, not knowing what to say.

The hours passed slowly, helped along by several cups of coffee for Astoria. Scorpius ignored the plethora of now stone-cold mugs that sat on the table beside him. A plump nurse who was surely in her fifties frowned at him disapprovingly as she collected them on her metal trolley. "Getting some warmth down yer would do yer good, boy." she said. "It's nearly time fer dinner. What you on, laddie?"

"Not hungry." he mumbled.

The nurse sighed and put her hands on her hips. "It's Ministry law that we give our patients three meals a day. Yer've bin here long enough to know that. So I'll ask yer again, boy, what you on?"

He sighed loudly. "Got soup?"

"I have if yer don't let it go the same way as yer coffee." The grumpy nurse waddled back to her trolley and moved to the next bed.

"Pleasant lady," he grumbled.

A few minutes later, the nurse returned with a bowl of pumpkin soup and a couple of bread rolls. "I expect yer to eat at least half a that soup an' one a those rolls by the time I collect yer stuff. Yer got me, lad?"

Scorpius nodded, rolling his eyes, as the nurse placed the soup on a tray in front of him.

"Enjoy." she said stiffly, moving back to her trolley.

"Excuse me!" he said, quickly. The nurse turned and raised her eyebrows. "When you're leaving the ward, can you come back to me and tell me how Rose is? Rose Weasley?"

She looked at him sternly for what must have been five seconds before she waddled off down the corridor. Scorpius sighed, but decided the soup smelt so good that it was worth a try. He'd just finished the bowl when the plump nurse appeared again.

"She ain't doing bad." she said. "Well, she conscious-"

"Conscious? Really?" Scorpius almost threw the tray on to his mother's lap, flung his legs off the side of his bed and almost ran across the ward. He paid for this when he collapsed with overwhelming dizziness over the metal bed posts. But the searing pain was worth hearing Rose laugh at him. He looked up with renewed happiness.

"Rose!" He panted. "Oh, I've missed you so much!"

She smiled widely. "I missed _you_. I knew you were there, I knew you came and talked to me sometimes. I could hear everything, feel everything, but I just couldn't open my eyes. I could barely move. You know it was the highlight of my days, when you came over. I really did miss being able to talk back."

Scorpius lifted himself from the end of her bed, pulled the horrid chair next to Rose and sat himself in it. "How do you feel now?" he asked.

"Like hell." she said, smiling weakly. "They've taken me off that lovely drip. They'd give me a dose every half an hour, and every time they did I felt so relaxed, and nothing hurt. But now they've taken it off me everything hurts. I'm throbbing all over."

"You'd have to come off it at some point. Since when was little Rosie a drip addict?" He joked.

"Shut up, I'm in pain. You're supposed to be nice to the weak." Rose reminded him, with a smile.

"Sorry." He said, taking her hand. "I'm so happy that you're back."

"Me too."

"Hey, in a couple of weeks we'll be back at Hogwarts. I can take you back to the west side."

"Good! I missed that too!"

The relaxed to-and-fro conversation lasted hours, deep into the next morning, until both of them were too tired to talk any more.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N Just a heads-up, this is the last chapter. It's gotten very long all of a sudden, but the more pressing reason is that my stats have gone down a lot in the past few days / weeks. **_**But**_** I have really enjoyed writing about Scorpius and Rose so if you follow me as an author you'll probably see some other stories about our dynamic duo cropping up. If any-one ideas for another new story that I could write, as long as it's Harry Potter or Hunger Games (irrelevant to the story but that series is **_**phenomenal**_**) related I'm all ears. Thank you for being such a loyal readership :)**

Chapter 24

Had you been looking at the stone steps that lead to the Main Entrance one particular summer evening, you would have seen a boy with white-blond hair waiting with bated breath for the return of his lover. She'd been rendered to a hospital for months now, but the boy had been in a similar situation before. Tonight was the night of her return, and a pain build up in his chest as his excitement grew. The boy hadn't seen his girlfriend in the flesh for almost a fortnight, he hadn't even seen her healthy for nearly three months, but he did write letters to her every day. He stared at the glassy lake, waiting. It spanned into the woods so he couldn't see the far side, the side which his girlfriend would be on now. The boy squinted into the darkness of the forest, and saw a line of light flicker there, then vanish.

The boy stood, curious, not being able to identify the lines of light. As they became more frequent, he realised what they were: ripples. Ripples on the surface of the lake that caught the orange sunlight. He saw something else moving above the ripples, something human.

"Scorpius!" cried a woman with her arms swinging wildly in the air.

"Rose?" asked the boy.

She was coming closer, and he was able to hear the chimes of her laughter. Scorpius couldn't stop grinning. The moment the little wooden boat hit the banks of the lake, the young woman sprinted out of it, straight into Scorpius' arms. "I can't believe I'm back!" She beamed, exasperated. Rose pulled back, clutching both of Scorpius' hands as tightly as she could without hurting him. "Take me to the west side, please, please, please!" She begged.

"Ok," he obliged, walking back to the place they loved so dearly with his lover's hand in his.


End file.
